Self Defense Video

6 Ways to Get the Most From Your Self Defense Video

There a lot of ways to get self defense training, and in many people's eyes, a self defense video is one of the last choices they'd make. It's true that one-on-one hand to hand combat training from a street fighter or a sensei can't be beaten, but there are a few tips you can use to get the most out of the self defense tactics on a video or DVD.

If you've already purchased a self defense video or DVD, you can't really take full advantage of all of these tips, because a couple of them are about selecting the right video. But the last few tips, about how to use the videos properly, will still be useful.

Look at the credentials. There a lot of fake combat self defense teachers out there -- so many that there are entire websites devoted to exposing the frauds. Be sure that, just like if you were taking a class from a sensei in a dojo, your instructor has the chops to be teaching what he's teaching. Hand to hand combat training is a must for any instructor, whether it's martial arts experience, street fighting cred, or (preferably) military training.

Check the source. Even if the instructor checks out, if he's working for a company of ill repute, you probably want to check elsewhere. Self defense training is self defense training, no matter the packaging, but a company that doesn't care for it's customers and provides a cheap product will end up disappointing you in other ways.

Pick your style. Combat self defense -- like Sambo or Krav Maga -- is very different from martial arts self defense or what they somewhat-denigratingly call 'women's self defense'. Pick the self defense tactics that you're most comfortable with: the level of violence you're willing to inflict, the amount of strength and speed you have, etc.

Get a partner. This is the single most important thing you can do to put a self defense video to good use. Get a partner who is willing to play both roles (attacker and defender) with you, back and forth, until you have a good understanding of each of your video's self defense tactics.

Schedule training, and stick with it. The big benefit to a self defense video is that you can use it on your own time -- but the big downfall is that you have to use it on your own time. Schedule a time when you and your partner can get together and engage in some hand to hand combat training, and don't screw it up. The fastest way to make your investment useless is to not use it at all.

Spar. No, seriously spar. Get your partner, get some gloves if you need them, and work your way from half-speed/half-impact sparring to full-speed/half-impact sparring to full-speed/full-impact sparring. There is no better way to learn to keep your cool when you're under attack than to be under attack. Combat self defense requires combat, period.

Heed these tips, and you'll find that a self defense video can be an incredible tool when it comes to learning to protect yourself.

Self Defence Training

Self Defence Training for Nurses

You'd think that people trained to help others would be some of the last people who need self defence training, but the fact is that nurses need to learn self defense more than almost any other profession! We're not necessarily talking huge amounts of combat self defense like Sambo or 'hard' martial arts self defense like Shotokan Karate, just basic self defense training.

In the healthcare industry, workplace violence has hit an all-time high, with the average nurse being assaulted three times every year, and few facilities are doing much about it.

Finally, in the past year or so, administrators are reevaluating their policies about workplace violence. When it came out that nurses are the third-most-assaulted non-security personnel in the country, everyone realized it was time for self defence training.

Complicating it all is the fact that the nurses are most often assaulted by their own patients, so aggressive 'combat' self defense or the more street-level martial arts self defense techniques are absolutely inappropriate. They have to protect themselves without hurting their attackers -- a tough thing to do under any circumstances.

Many industry leaders are looking into what they call 'tactical' self defense training. With this kind of policy, nurses would learn self defense strategies that avoid confrontation, rather than defeat opponents. Such measures concentrate on strategic positioning and escape routes, and on defusing violence with vocal control and body language. That kind of self defense training is good, but it's only the first half of a real self defense course.

Nurses need to invest a bit of time and energy into learning 'soft' martial arts self defense styles. There are plenty of styles like Aikido that concentrate on redirecting and deflecting the attacker's energies. Nurses who need to learn self defense should study these styles after they finish their 'tactical' self defense course.

Truth be told, combat self defense classes have their place even in an environment like a hospital -- not because we want nurses who can kick their patient's butts, but because the more hardcore self defense classes can quickly impart a level of confidence and spirit that can take a softer class a much longer time to convey. In an ideal situation, a nurse would get a bit of exposure to all three -- tactical, soft, and hard self defense classes -- in order to be able to handle the widest variety of situations.

Hospitals and other medical institutions cannot be entirely responsible for every nurses' well-being, and their decision by and large to go with tactical self defence training is borne of a desire to avoid even further troubles of the legal variety. So if you're a nurse, you really should consider pursuing your own self defense class outside of whatever your workplace offers.

There are a wide variety of options available to you, but at the absolute minimum, you should try out a self defense DVD or handbook. You can get them through the mail, you don't need to invest a lot, and a little self defence training can really give you a hand up on your more aggressive patients.

Military Self Defense

Military Self Defense vs. Martial Arts - Which Is Better On The Streets?

No one doubts that learning some form of self defense is imperative these days; the question is what kind -- and it really boils down to military self defense schools like MCMAP and Krav Maga versus martial arts styles like Tae Kwon Do and Judo. Each has its place, no doubt, but martial arts techniques aren't at home on the streets. People absolutely should learn martial arts, but not to protect themselves.

Protecting yourself isn't a matter of focus, flexibility, internal energy, or any of the things that martial arts styles are designed to engender in their practitioners. Martial arts techniques focus on precise motions executed perfectly, and brawling with a thug in a subway station just doesn't give you the space or control you need to execute. In fact, trying to do so will probably only get you more hurt than not.

The calm under pressure and the focus that a competent martial artist feels are useful when you're being attacked -- so absolutely, learn martial arts! -- but the martial arts techniques themselves, not so much. Military styles, though, pack a lot of killer techniques into a repertoire that's designed to be used in circumstances that are less than ideal -- which makes them much better suited to street-level self defense.

Unfortunately, martial arts styles are taught in every city in the country, but finding someone to teach military self defense can be difficult. Martial arts are more prevalent just because it's easier to learn martial arts than it is to learn military self defense. That's why it's important not to discount the lessons that can be learned from a self defense DVD.

They're easy to order from any number of sources, they're comprehensive, and they're detailed. The only things you need to take full advantage of a self defense DVD are a decently sized living room, a partner, and enough discipline to try out each of the lessons until you're comfortable with the concept.

Well, not quite -- you need to repeat the lessons, too. Without practice and repetition, neither martial arts nor military schools are going to have a lasting impact on your body or your spirit. Go over the self defense DVD several times, until at least the most basic moves are second nature to you. If you can't find a partner willing to stick out the entire stretch with you, start over with a new partner. The difference will only benefit you in the long run, and there's no loss to reviewing the basics several times before you move on to the more advanced stuff.

Only with that kind of discipline and repetition can you build not only the muscle memory, but also the confidence that you need to stand up to an attacker on the streets. Take your military self defense home-schooling seriously: it has a good chance of saving your life --or at least your wallet.

Learn Self Defense

Martial Arts Self Defense - Street vs. Dojo

Martial arts self defense techniques are one of the most popular subjects for writers of fiction and advertisement across the nation. But there are a few martial arts moves that are particularly important to discuss in relation to self defense, including the single worst a couple of the best things that you can do for your own protection. If you decide to learn martial arts, pay close attention, because not everything that works in the dojo works on the street.

When you watch a pair of true martial arts masters square off, the chances are that the match will start with a lot of waiting. They examine one anothers' stances, looking to see which martial arts moves the other seems likely to perform. And when one does, it's usually all over: either the other master has predicted correctly and the counterattack ends the match, or they're wrong and the attack lands and the match ends. It's practically the hallmark of a master martial artist.

Unfortunately, it's also the single worst of the self defense techniques that martial arts can teach you. Self defense cannot be reactive -- the instant that you know someone intends violence, you must act decisively and without hesitation. We all remember the first Karate Kid movie -- the bad guys had a mantra of "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy". Ironically, when you're trying to learn self defense, that mantra is very solid advice.

Humans are lucky in that we generally know when we're in danger, like a sixth sense. Our adrenaline starts to flow, pupils dilate, and we make the crucial decision between fight and flight. Martial arts moves require enough discipline to overcome that reaction, but on the streets, it's vital to let it go and, if it's called for, fight with all you've got.

Of course, martial arts self defense tactics aren't all wrong for the streets. There are a few incredibly effective self defense techniques that evolved directly from martial arts moves. If you're going to learn self defense at all, learning these two concepts should be high on your list.

Maai is a Japanee word that essentially means "distance between attacker and defender". Sabaki means "movement of attacker and defender". Simply put, staying away from an attacker and moving into positions that prevent his attacks from hitting you are very powerful tools when in a streetfight situation.

Every attack has a range, and if you can move out of that range -- which counterintutively sometimes means moving forward, right up next to your attacker -- you can avoid getting hurt. Similarly, every attack has a line that it follows, and most attacks are more or less parallel to the direction the attacker is facing. That means that if you move sideways or around the attacker, you can avoid the line of his attack and end up in a better position to counterattack from.

The ability to determine when to use Maai and when to use Sabaki is something that comes from practice alone, so don't hesitate to learn martial arts in any way you can. Just don't get caught up in the notion that martial arts tactics are always martial arts self defense techniques that are good on the street.

Self Defense Techniques

Self Defense Techniques - 7 Ways to Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

It's happened: you've been backed into an alley by a man who obviously doesn't give a rat's rear end whether you leave it alive or not -- time to put those self defense techniques you learned to good use. All of the martial arts training or military self defense classes won't help you, though, if you don't keep your actual goal in mind: survival.

People who get distracted by martial arts moves or military self defense techniques stop thinking about self defense, and those people get hurt, badly. If you're not already a street fighter or an 8th dan, techniques are for the mat, not the street. It's best to stick with simple, unconscious 'moves' that will allow you to escape.

Here are seven tips to surviving an attack on the street. Some are self defense techniques, others are simple facts to keep in mind that will improve your chances of survival. None require any martial arts training or military self defense classes. It's all pretty simple, really.

Kick and stomp. Aim for the knees, shins, toes, or instep, and just bash as hard as you can with your heel and your toes. Hit him hard enough, and he won't be able to run fast enough to catch you -- getaway secured.

Hit and hit and hit and run. Whatever hit you can get in, get it in and then immediately hit him again. Don't wait and see if the first hit worked, just follow up, two or three times as hard and fast as you can -- and then RUN.

Survival is victory -- victory is not survival. Getting away is the goal -- sticking around because you think you have the upper hand and you want to 'win' is a sure way to end up severely injured. Self defense is about defense -- and survival is the goal of all defense.

He's just as vulnerable as you are. Unless your attacker is armored, he's got the same basic weak spots that we all do. Don't think of him as unstoppable or even more powerful than you. He's not.

There's a reason they call it a bull's EYE.Eyes are one such weak point. Any attack that hits either eye, no matter how clumsy, is a chance to get away as he flinches and involuntarily squeezes his eyes shut.

You will get hit. It's OK to get hit. It's not fun, but the pain isn't a reason to stop trying to get away -- because if you don't, there's only more of it on the way.

Maintain a basic guard position. That means teeth clenched, elbows down, and fists between your face and his weapon. Boxers take this position because it works -- it allows you to keep the maximum amount of vulnerable spaces covered while you're also ready to attack. Just seeing someone who looks comfortable in this position can cause an attacker to reevaluate whether or not you're the easy target he thought you were.

None of these are martial arts secrets or mystical psychological tricks -- just simple self-defense tips that will get you survive a sticky situation. Above all, just remember that self defense is not martial arts, and most self defense techniques are far simpler than any martial arts training.